The Watchtower — May 15, 1954

Choosing Your Own Food

WHEN you go to the corner grocer, who selects your food? Do you tell the grocer you want a bag of groceries and let him give you whatever he wants to? Or do you have a list of just what you want in the way of staples, fruits and vegetables, etc.? Of course you pick your groceries yourself, for you know just what you need in the way of starches, proteins, vitamins and minerals and fats to keep you healthy.

Now Jesus said that “man must live, not on bread alone, but on every utterance coming forth through Jehovah’s mouth.” (Matt. 4:4, NW) Yes, we do need spiritual food. And since the right kind of spiritual food is just as necessary for our spiritual health as the right kind of material food is for our bodily health, we should be just as careful in seeing that we get a rounded-out supply of spiritual food as we are to get such for our bodies. In fact, we should be even more selective since physical health merely means freedom from pain for the proverbial threescore years and ten, whereas spiritual health means everlasting life in happiness.

Most persons, however, go to their spiritual groceryman, the clergyman, priest, rabbi or minister, and let him choose for them whatever he wishes without ever giving it a thought whether they are getting a rounded-out spiritual diet or not. Such a course is not wise. You may not be getting just what you really need.

For example, do you ever wonder why an almighty, wise, just and loving God has permitted so much suffering and wickedness? Or why your sincere prayers have gone unanswered, especially in time of war or illness? Are you in a quandary as to whether to believe what God’s Word states regarding creation or to accept the theories of most scientists? Have you wondered about the kingdom Jesus told us to pray for? When it will come and how? Or whether it has been on earth since the time of Jesus or not?

If you have such questions as these in your mind, then it is apparent that you are among those hungering and thirsting for righteousness; you are among those conscious of their spiritual need; among those sighing and crying for the abominations you see being done in the land. (Matt. 5:6, 3, NW; Ezek. 9:4) And it also is apparent that in spite of the help of your spiritual groceryman, your clergyman, you are not getting a well-balanced supply of spiritual food from the spiritual grocery store, the Bible. So why not go directly to the Bible yourself? for it contains answers to all these questions and many more. To help you to do this is the purpose of this magazine.

Spreading Theocratic Cheer Through Argentina

WHILE the Watch Tower Society’s president, N. H. Knorr, was visiting the brothers in Mendoza, Argentina, on Saturday, December 19, his secretary, M. G. Henschel, was traveling from Asunción, Paraguay, to Buenos Aires, en route to Neuquén, in the southern part of the Argentine republic. One of the graduates of the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead, Brother Hughes, met him at the airport near Buenos Aires, and took him to the headquarters of Jehovah’s witnesses for Argentina in Buenos Aires, where they spent about six hours and got some rest. Before dawn they returned to the airport and took an Argentine Airlines plane for their journey of over 1,000 kilometers to Neuquén, in the prospering Rio Negro fruit-growing district, situated below the 38th parallel. It is the irrigation from the river that makes a desertlike part of Argentina produce some of the most delicious fruits in the world. Among those participating in the raising of fruits are some of Jehovah’s witnesses, and it was at the quinta, or farm, of one of the brothers that 115 brothers and many of their children, from four congregations of Jehovah’s witnesses in various towns of the zone, awaited the sight of the cloud of dust rising above the unpaved road that would signal the approach of the car coming from the airport.

On entering the quinta, which was surrounded by high poplar trees that bound together the small dikes carrying lifegiving waters to the fertile land, the visiting brothers saw a rapid concentration of brothers running from all directions to surround the auto and stretch out the hand of welcome. Quickly they gathered together boxes and tree stumps and planks and made a small auditorium in the shade of the poplar trees next to a grape arbor. A pleasant breeze cooled the listeners. Brother Henschel delivered three talks and Brother Hughes one. An assembly of three and a half hours with 115 members of the New World society might not seem to be so much, but for these brothers it was the greatest event in the history of the local congregations. Their appreciation of this assembly was seen in their complete silence during the talks and how carefully they noted down all the Bible texts referred to and points of special interest.

The first congregation in this part of the country was formed in Neuquén in 1945 around an isolated publisher who is employed by the railways and whose work was favorable for extending the message of the Kingdom to many towns during his trips. His work and the help of some pioneers, plus constant visits from circuit servants, caused the congregation to grow and the isolated interest to develop. Now there are four congregations in the area and the brothers are happy that one in their midst has been able to enter the pioneer service and is putting forth an effort to learn English so that he can have the privilege of going to Gilead and entering the missionary service thereafter.

Almost directly east of Neuquén on the coast is the important city of Bahía Blanca, a distance of 587 kilometers. Because the train of the Ferrocarríl General Roca must stop at every town along the way, with long stops at many stations, the trip would consume an entire day. But the long stops did provide an opportunity for the brothers along the way, who had taken so much joy out of the assembly the day before, to spend a little time with the traveling brothers, and so at the start of the trip some brothers waited at nearly every station. And the brother who is employed by the railways was working that day, so he was able to see the brothers from time to time during the first eight hours of the journey. It is the rivers that make this part of Argentina produce fruit, and the train follows the Rio Negro for a time, then crosses the arid land to the edge of the Rio Colorado, which was in flood stage. A few cities were passed on the way where there are no congregations of Jehovah’s witnesses, so it is evident there is more room for expansion in Argentina and more pioneers can well be used.

It was past midnight when the train pulled into the station at Bahía Blanca, but two brothers were waiting with a car to take the visitors to their rooms. In this city the one congregation had recently been divided into two units and all the brothers were embracing their new responsibilities with great enthusiasm and joy, making it possible for one of the brothers who met the train, a special pioneer, to be given a new assignment in a nearby city where many interested persons were asking for assistance. In this connection the major problem facing the special pioneers in Argentina when they go to new assignments is finding a place to live, and this was a problem that had confronted the special pioneer brother in Bahía Blanca, who was making arrangements to go to his new territory. But the brothers in Bahía Blanca demonstrated their appreciation for the services of love shown them by the special pioneer and provided him with a prefabricated house and obtained the piece of land on which to erect it in the new city.

The visit to Bahía Blanca was very short. Brother Henschel addressed two groups of brothers, a total of 50, registered with the police as required of all tourists who enter the country, and then had lunch. One of the publishers in the congregation owned a car that he offered for the service of Jehovah, and so he very kindly began his work of chauffeur for a trip of 1,245 kilometers. The first leg of the trip was 490 kilometers, and the destination was the famous seaside resort, Mar del Plata. But the departure from Bahía Blanca was over an hour late, according to the information on the itinerary provided by the Society’s branch office, and, as it turned out, it was impossible to recover this lost time even though the roads to be used in this part of the country are paved. The trip was pleasant, through a verdant farming country teeming with cattle and horses, but the big question was whether the brothers waiting in Mar del Plata would wait long enough. It was dark before the group arrived in the city, but the brothers kept waiting until after 10 p.m. and in the end were not disappointed. They had carried on with a service meeting of an improvised kind during their waiting period. These 25 publishers had lots of work to do, for Mar del Plata is a city of some 150,000 in normal times, but in the summer the inhabitants increase to 500,000. But their life is not a dull one, for among the visitors to these beaches are a number of brothers who join in worship of Jehovah during their brief vacation visits to the city. But they are not enough to deal with the augmented population.

It would have been pleasant to spend a little time in Mar del Plata seeing the fine city and the beaches, but there was no opportunity for that. At dawn it was time to move on to the city of Balcárce, an hour-and-a-half trip from the coast. There, in a farmhouse close to the city, 22 brothers were found waiting to spend an hour with the traveling brothers. Notable in this congregation is the fact that the majority of the brothers are from Spain.

Next on the route was Tandíl, a city visited often by tourists who enjoy the good air of the nearby hills. Here there are four pioneers who are rejoicing in the increase of the work and who beamed at seeing 33 publishers assembled in a small house toward the edge of town. It is notable that this congregation had been formed through the work of one pioneer during his travels. This original pioneer is still working diligently in the city to spread the good news of the Kingdom, while he also works eight hours a day to maintain himself and his wife in the pioneer work. The pioneers are looking forward to the day when they will be able to leave behind in this city of their birth a strong congregation of Kingdom publishers and take new assignments in isolated territories. And looking even farther ahead, they are studying English in the hope of qualifying for an invitation to attend the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead and entering missionary service.

Tandíl has a very Catholic population and the extremely active group of Jehovah’s witnesses has made the clergy uncomfortable. In various ways the clergy warn their parishes not to take the literature of “those Protestants.” Often mention is made in their publications about the work of Jehovah’s witnesses and at times they solicit the co-operation of the authorities among the local police, saying “they should take action against those Protestants.” On the walls in the city signs have been seen bearing the following inscription: “Burn the magazine, The Watchtower, in your furnace.” With it all, the brothers have not been molested, except for a few warning words from some policemen, and they continue working regularly from house to house.

Buenos Aires was the next stop. The road was dirt part of the way and its roughness shook loose part of the exhaust pipe. There was a brief stop for repairs, and the result was that night fell long before Buenos Aires was reached. The driver felt the need of rest, so Brothers Hughes and Henschel took a train for the remaining 80 kilometers to the federal city.

The next day, December 24, the schedule called for a visit to Eva Perón, formerly La Plata, capital of the province of Buenos Aires. Groups of 20 and 30 were visited. Then on to nearby Berisso, where 22 were gathered. Next was Ensenáda, a congregation that is growing fast, where there are now three groups. The attendances were 34, 32 and 26. The chauffeur, who had joined the visitors again at Eva Perón, served well in a territory strange to him, about 50 kilometers from Buenos Aires city. For some years the brothers in this area had traveled all the way to Buenos Aires to attend the meetings, but now they were found to be well established, representing the New World society in the area with 144 publishers in the various groups.

Later, on the way back to Buenos Aires, a visit was made to a group at Bernál. Some brothers from another community were there, too, making up a total of 43. Here the congregation is formed of a mixed group, many being immigrants from Europe, but all active and full of joy, and the numbers are increasing.

December 25 was a day of great celebration for forms of religion in Buenos Aires and other parts of the world. Buenos Aires had been lavishly decorated for the holiday, with many signs, plaster figures and decorated trees. But since the day is not a real Christian time of celebration, Jehovah’s witnesses went about their business as usual. It rained hard all day and, since no meetings had been scheduled, the time was devoted by Brother Knorr, who had now rejoined Brother Henschel, to activities in the branch office. It was a pleasure to be with brothers who had served in Argentina from the very time that the work began there. And in the evening all the graduates of Gilead in Buenos Aires met at the missionary home to have dinner and a discussion.

Although the weather in Buenos Aires is usually stiflingly hot in the summer, it was unusually cool for this week of meetings, and that was especially fine in the city, for most of the meetings during this visit of the Watch Tower representatives were held in apartments or small rooms or garages next to the homes of brothers, and practically every place was quite comfortable, enabling the listeners to pay good attention.

Saturday, December 26, was the start of three big days of touring through Buenos Aires and talking to the brothers. A look at the Yearbook showed the day’s text to be Ezekiel 9:4, and one could not help but think it appropriate for the day in Argentina. The first meeting was scheduled for nine o’clock in the morning. Brother Knorr spoke first for about forty minutes. As soon as he concluded his talk he introduced Brother Henschel, who read a forty-minute talk in Spanish, and he was followed by Brother Hughes, who gave a discourse in Spanish on the theocratic organization and how it leads to life, a talk that had been given by the president in a number of other countries. This gave all of the brothers a full two-hour program and it ran as smoothly as clockwork. A very accurate schedule had been made out, and when the speakers walked into an apartment or patio everyone was seated waiting. Each meeting was opened with prayer. So throughout the whole day this continued until nine congregations had been served. Sometimes they met in a patio or in a third-floor apartment or in someone’s kitchen or out in a little house on the edge of the city. Wherever one went there were smiling faces and eyes filled with anticipation, and a great desire to applaud was seen everywhere, but the brothers dared not attract attention to their place of meeting. At the close of every talk that Brother Knorr gave every group asked to have their love and greetings sent on to the others in the city and to other parts of the world. Surely here was the spirit of unity.

The speakers got home at midnight, tired, but filled with joy at seeing so many radiant faces and knowing they belonged to brothers who wanted to push on in this grand witness work. The speakers had given something to the audience, but the audience had helped the speakers to avoid thinking about being tired, by the appreciation and enthusiasm for the work which they displayed. Audience, car drivers and speakers all co-operated together completely to produce a memorable day for the Kingdom service in Argentina.

Sunday’s program was even heavier. All the car drivers and speakers were up at 6 a.m. and left for the first stop at 7:30. Eleven groups were visited on Sunday, so each speaker delivered eleven talks, but somehow the speakers had as much strength on the eleventh talk as on the first. Certainly the spirit of Jehovah furnished the strength to keep up this pace. There was not much time to eat, and even this was scheduled. The brothers would get into a home, sit down and eat, and as soon as the work time arrived they began to talk to a group assembled nearby. Every meeting began punctually. Amazing as it may seem, very rarely was there a latecomer. This was a special event! A big assembly was on and all wanted to hear what the Society, through its representatives, had to tell them.

Monday, December 28, brought the close of the tour, with four more groups to visit in the afternoon. When the last lecture was given, Brother Knorr had talked to 43 groups in Argentina and the persons addressed totaled 2,053. Brother Henschel had talked to all those in Buenos Aires too, and to 13 other congregations outside to the south and west of Buenos Aires, an additional 452 persons, bringing the grand total spoken to during this trip in Argentina to 2,505. It was a source of great satisfaction and joy, this accomplishment, and all gave thanks to Jehovah for the way he used his people and organized them and brought them together in such a splendid way—no difficulties, no mishaps, and everyone extremely grateful to Jehovah.

There were many things to do at the branch office on Tuesday the 29th, and then in the afternoon it was a pleasure for Brothers Knorr and Henschel to spend a few minutes with the missionary graduates of Gilead and some of the other brothers at the airport. They were all satisfied that a visit so profitable had had a successful conclusion and that a few difficulties concerning holding meetings had not been sufficient to prevent the servants of Jehovah God in Argentina from having their own form of New World Society Assembly, with up into the hundreds together in the country and groups of 19 to 49 in the capital. By the end of December a new peak in number of publishers of the Kingdom was reached. Now 2,794 ministers are blessing Jehovah every day.

Relic Finds Uphold Bible’s Authenticity

● In the New York Times of December 22, 1953, appeared this arresting item: “The Smithsonian Institution is about to open to public view a collection of rare archaeological finds tracing the history of mankind through 500 centuries. The exhibit provides material support for disputed stories in the Bible. The ancient treasures—weapons, manuscripts, statuary, mosaics and religious relics—will be on display at the museum Jan. 10 through Jan. 27. Most of the items have been unearthed in the last two decades—a period that has revolutionized archaeological understanding of the Biblical era. Included in the exhibit will be a bit of copper from King Solomon’s mines, a slingshot from the time of David’s battle with Goliath, and the jawbone of an ass similar to the one Samson reputedly used to slay the Philistines.

●“At a preview today, William F. Albright, Johns Hopkins University archaeologist, said the relics ‘revolutionize our understanding of the Bible.’ Mr. Albright said he suspected that the newly discovered treasures, as their mysteries were unraveled, would add fresh conflict to the old controversy of science vs. religion. The new data, he suggested, will give strong support to so-called fundamentalist interpretations of Biblical stories. For example, he said, some of the latest finds prove Solomon was even more fabulously wealthy than he was depicted in Biblical history. On exhibit, too, will be the oldest known Biblical manuscript, the ‘Dead Sea’ scrolls of Isaiah discovered in a forgotten cave by a Bedouin shepherd in 1947. The exhibition of 1,500 items was assembled by the American Fund for Israel Institutions from museums and private collections all over the world.”

Free Will

(Reply to a letter raising objections on this point)

I AM in disagreement with articles published in The Watchtower dated June 1, 1953. There is no such thing as a “free” will; and the only freedom human beings can ever experience is that which is conveyed upon them when they give their hearts to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and are born of the spirit.—J. H. N., England.

The above-mentioned articles in The Watchtower discussed the subject of predestination as taught by the religious systems of Christendom and showed the falsity of their teaching, setting forth, instead, from the Holy Scriptures, that all men are allowed the free exercise of their will to choose the destiny of life and salvation or the destiny of death and abandonment to destruction.—Rev. 22:17.

God does not force an individual to accept either destiny, and in that sense he allows to every intelligent creature the exercise of free will. Here on earth the opportunity is granted by God to all creatures to choose either destiny; and this would not be the case if they did not have the freedom of choice or the power and opportunity of free will. All descendants of Adam are in the fallen, sin-degraded state, and it is to these that the offer of salvation, through God’s way and for his purpose, is made. (Rom. 8:28) If for one to be an imperfect sinful member of Adam’s family meant the loss of free will, then it would be foolish for God to give a single human creature the opportunity to choose everlasting life in God’s new world, for then the sin-dominated creature would have no powers of free will to make a choice for something better from God’s hand but would be held hopelessly enslaved by sin and the Devil. And if any would then gain salvation through God’s way, it would have to be because he forced them contrary to their degraded wills to accept his way of salvation.—John 10:14-16; 2 Pet. 3:13.

Serving sin by obeying it and serving the Devil by obeying his world or system of things, men are not free but are slaves. They think of themselves as free, but in fact they are not free, just as your letter says. But even a slave may have free will, and slaves have been known to rebel and break away and even make a successful escape. So even the slaves of sin and Satan the Devil have free will, and God appeals to their exercise of this free will by having the message of salvation and deliverance presented to them through Christ. (2 Cor. 5:18-20) If this were not the case it would be very unfair for God to present to humans something that he would have to admit they were not free to accept. On the other hand, it is the Devil and his organization (invisible and visible) that try to wash the peoples’ brains, that try to deprive humans of free will, and try to terrorize them against using the God-given freedom of will. Some humans, too, so degrade themselves in sin and corruption (and that out of their own free will or choice) that they have very little strength of will left to incline them toward good and its continuous acceptance.—Rom. 1:20-32.

You mention the scribes and Pharisees and that Jesus condemned them, as a class, and asked how they could escape the judgment of Gehenna, or annihilation. Yet the Scriptures declare that many of the scribes and Pharisees and Jewish priests accepted the Christian message, which fact proves that the individual members of that class had the power, right, opportunity and call to exercise free will by the preaching of Jesus and his disciples. If some had the free will to choose to accept the message of salvation, then all the others of this class had the power to do so, but those others used their free will to choose the traditions of the adulterated Jewish religion and hence deliberately chose destruction in the Gehenna of annihilation. So your argument fails—that, so far from having “free” will, man born in sin is utterly helpless except to follow the devices and desires of his own heart.—Rom. 12:1, 2.

Pharaoh of Egypt, Hitler of Germany and Napoleon of France, whom you cite as men “incapable of doing right,” all had free will to follow the course they pursued. Pharaoh was not, as you say, “powerless to avert his doom,” for in ten cases he showed he had the power to relent or repent. Each time he did relent Jehovah God lifted the plague off Pharaoh and Egypt. He was free to choose to remain in his repentant condition, but chose, instead, not to do so. After the tenth plague on Egypt he did let the Israelites under Moses leave the land of their enslavement; Pharaoh literally hurried them out of Egypt and asked them for their blessing. Had he continued in this repentant, tenderhearted condition he would have been spared destruction with his military hosts in the Red Sea. But as in the previous nine cases, he let his selfishness and pride get the better of him, and he exercised his free will to harden his heart and to take advantage of the seemingly helpless position of the Israelites at the edge of the Red Sea. So without any pressure from Jehovah God, but brushing aside all the lessons that he should have learned in his preceding arrogant defiances of Almighty God, Pharaoh freely willed or chose to go after the escaped Israelites to drag them back to slavery in Egypt. Yes, as you say, “free will implies moral responsibility,” and Pharaoh was morally responsible to Almighty God for his own destruction at the Red Sea as well as for all the ten plagues that he and his people had previously suffered.

True, too, as you add, today the world’s state “would seem to indicate the impossibility of its redemption.” But, as in Noah’s day, so today there is a “small minority of the world’s inhabitants” that will “escape the final destruction,” because they have come out from this world as to their being a part of it. How was this possible? Because of their possession of free will, in spite of their being once sinfully a part of this corrupt world, and because of their exercising free will in response to God’s message of warning and of invitation to salvation. On the other hand, the vast majority of today’s generation (to use Jesus’ own term at Matthew 24:32-39 and Luke 21:29-32) will perish with this world or system of things (upon this planet) that now has fully run its God-tolerated course—not because such victims have no free will but because, out of their own choice, they are preferrers, lovers, of this world and they choose and prefer to remain with it; and they submit to their worldly rulers who incessantly strive to deprive them of the exercise of their free will.

Therefore we must distinguish between free will and Christian freedom. The only freedom is, as you yourself aptly emphasize, the Christian freedom. Jesus in support said: “If you remain in my word, you are really my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” “Every doer of sin is a slave of sin. Therefore if the Son [of God, i.e., Christ Jesus] sets you free, you will be actually free.” (John 8:31, 32, 34, 36, NW) It is because of the possession and exercise of free will that many slaves of sin and the Devil come into the Christian freedom, through yielding themselves to the force of the truth and, under its transforming power, becoming doers of Almighty God’s word of command and counsel, not hearers only—not mere absorbers of that word for relaxing or diversionary purposes of their own and without a due and wholesome regard for the great Giver’s purpose. (John 15:8) Such doers of Almighty God’s word choose to obey other thought forces (Ps. 118:17; 139:17, 18; Isa. 55:8, 9) than those of their former worldly slave masters.—John 13:17.

Frankly, it is because of your difficulty in discerning that the free will of humans, even now in their sinful state, is a fact demonstrated by the hundreds of thousands who have come into God’s way of truth since Jesus’ day, that you feel the need to cast about for something outside the Bible. That is your difficulty—your not accepting fully what, and all that, the Bible says; but, instead, seriously entertaining preconceived ideas of other humans and your own. For instance, you refer us to Jonathan Edwards of the 18th century, who, as you remark, “except for illustrations, made no appeal to Scriptural authority.” Why, therefore, should God-fearing persons seriously choose to read this American philosopher’s products in hope of acquiring sound enlightenment when such God-fearing persons, even as we, firmly believe in “Scriptural authority” (John 14:10-17) and gratefully and constantly appeal to it as the only guide to true understanding—choosing of our own free will to “let God be found true, though every man be found a liar”? (Rom. 3:4, NW; Luke 24:25-27, 32) Feeling for a way out of your perplexity and difficulty, you write: “We could reasonably suppose, without offending any earnest theologian, that there might possibly be some omissions from the Bible, which has passed through the distortion of translation many times, and that after death the period of probation may be extended to the eternal spiritual world, and that poor suffering human beings, with their frailties and longings for happiness and peace, may be free to expurgate more completely the sin which besets them, and that He who ‘came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance,’ may have other places of refuge for the lost, not recorded in the Scriptures.”

Here, again, in a procedure wholly unlike that of Christ Jesus himself (Luke 24:25-27, 32), your desperate appeal is outside the Holy Scriptures. Today we do not have to be content with, nor rely upon, distorted translations of Almighty God’s sacred Record. We have the original texts of the Bible available for us to consult—the original Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek; and the Watchtower-published New World Translation has been painstakingly provided for willing users, to give them as faithful a rendering of these original texts as possible, so readers may come to an accurate knowledge of the truth. There are no “omissions” that allow for such a thing as you wishfully suggest. Indeed there could not be such omissions, because the things you suggest as possible omissions are contrary to the teachings of the Scriptures that we actually have on record in black and white. And the accumulated findings, to date, of palaeographers prove beyond controversy or reason to doubt that we have received the original Scriptural records substantially unchanged, practically as from the hands of the original writers.

It is unscriptural and unreasonable to hope for a spiritual future world for sinful but honest humans where such may hope to expurgate their besetting sin and have an extended period of probation there. That is akin to the Roman Catholic teaching of “purgatory,” an intermediate spirit place between heaven and earth, but for which there is not a shred of evidence or proof in the written Word of God. When human creatures die, they die and they do not enter the spirit realm. (See Ezekiel 18:4, 20; John 11:14.) Only the 144,000 members of God’s congregation under their Head Christ Jesus will gain life in the spirit realm; and this is by God’s special arrangement through Christ and by a marvelous resurrection from the dead when only such persons experience a change from their original human existence and, by Almighty God’s power, are raised to life as immortal, spirit creatures, to everlasting life and activity in the invisible heavenly realm with their Bridegroom Christ Jesus—this at his second coming and the establishment, earth-wide, of God’s kingdom under him, for which kingdom he taught his disciples to pray.—Matt. 6:9-13; John 14:1-3; 1 Thess. 4:15-18; Rev. 14:1-5.

Others of mankind, who choose willingly to obey Almighty God’s perfect, righteous requirements, may soberly entertain no other hope of life but that of life on this planet earth in human perfection—in God’s new world with its paradise earth. Never fear or entertain the “horror of the thought of the creation of sentient beings, foreknown to be doomed to an eternity of pain”—to quote you. Jesus Christ, at Matthew 25:41-46, did not refer to such an “eternity of pain,” but to an eternity of absolute destruction, annihilation of the “goats” that he described there. The everlasting fire reserved for the Devil and his angels is the everlasting destruction that awaits them and all who use their free will to follow such demonic adversaries of Almighty God. In this teaching, Jesus was in harmony with the God of the old Hebrew Scriptures, “whose name alone is JEHOVAH.” (Ps. 83:18, King James Version) Jesus’ own name, as translated out of the basic original text, means “Jehovah is salvation.” Jesus did not reveal a Supreme Being different from the One described in the Hebrew Scriptures. (See, again, Luke 24:25-27, 32; also Isaiah 53 and Acts 8:26-39.) No, Jesus did not reveal a different, a “better” God; indeed Jesus could not, his own heavenly Father, Jehovah, being in fact the only living and true God, even as Peter was reminded by Jesus.—Matt. 16:13-17; John 20:17.

In the ancient Hebrew Scriptures (now commonly though inaccurately designated “Old Testament” of the Bible) are preserved Jehovah’s declarations of his judgments against the wicked. Jesus was in complete harmony with those declared judgments of his everliving Father, Jehovah; and Jesus referred with approval to those written judgments and added his own authoritative warning, in referring as Jesus did to the flood of Noah’s day, to the fiery destruction by Jehovah of Sodom and Gomorrah, to the first destruction of Jerusalem, which also foreshadowed that city’s second destruction in A.D. 70, etc. (Luke 17:20-32; 21:20-22) Jesus’ apostles and other faithful disciples of his also were in complete accord with those declared judgments which subsequently, in ancient time, were executed by the everliving God, Jehovah; and those faithful followers of Jesus repeatedly referred to those remarkable ancient occurrences by way of warning to sin-inclined persons living upon earth during this Christian era.—See 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10; 2 Peter 2:4-22; Jude 5-16.

Those typically executed judgments will be realistically and fully performed, earthwide, in Jehovah’s anciently foretold, and now impending, battle at Armageddon: Revelation 16:13-16. After that battle comes God’s permanent new world under Christ Jesus. (2 Pet. 3:13) That unprecedented battle (also anciently foretold in Jeremiah 25:32-38, in Daniel 12:1, and other prophecies Jesus quoted) a minority of men of free will now living upon earth shall survive, according to God’s promise. (Zeph. 2:1-3; Luke 21:28) Then Christ Jesus will reign for a thousand years. He will utter his voice, and there will be a resurrection of the dead, not from the Gehenna of annihilation into which many humans will already have gone, but from the memorial tombs, mankind’s common grave, the Bible “hell” or Sheʹol or Hades. (John 5:28, 29; Rev. 20:11-15) This resurrection, or restanding to life upon this planet earth, will include also the many unjust, unrighteous, of many past ages, who still are susceptible to the appeal of Jehovah’s goodness. From the state of the dead they will come forth as human creatures, having undergone no change in personality during their period of sleeplike unconsciousness and total inactivity in the memorial tombs.—Eccl. 9:5-10; Acts 24:15.

Then the heavenly government of Jehovah under Christ Jesus, anciently foretold at Isaiah 9:6, 7, will busy itself with helping earth’s inhabitants to get completely out of and away from their sin-ridden condition. Then there will be at large neither Devil nor any angels of his to hinder and thwart the well-aimed efforts of earth’s inhabitants to respond to the uplifting influences and perfect ministrations of Jehovah’s kingdom under Christ Jesus, for all those incorrigible adversaries of the Most High God and his permanent government for the entire earth will have been silenced; yes, bound for the thousand-year term of Christ’s unhindered reign. Earth’s inhabitants will be at liberty to use their free will to respond—to conform themselves merrily and gratefully to Jehovah’s perfect requirements. Such as do thus respond then will be blessed and enriched with ultimate uplift to perfection as humans. Any, on the other hand, who then choose to use their free will to rebel against the sole earth-wide government of the Most High God and who then prefer to turn to the ways of the old destroyed world (or system of things) will then themselves share in the Gehenna of everlasting annihilation which Jesus authoritatively said his Father, Jehovah, had “prepared for the devil and his angels.” (Matt. 25:41) Those joyfully obedient humans who, on earth, then live on and on to the very end of Christ’s thousand-year reign will have been uplifted to human perfection.

There, then, at the end of that millennial reign will be applied a great, final test of the free will of each and every surviving human then inhabiting the paradise earth. Satan and his demons then will be loosed from their abyssed state of deathlike inactivity, but for only a brief period. Thus loosed, those chronic rebels again will range forth in their wicked deceitfulness and craftiness to mislead and bring about the destruction of mankind. Those who then exert their free will in loyalty to Almighty God to resist these wicked hordes will be preserved by God and justified for everlastingly living in the unending paradise earth. Those others, though, who after all the enlightenment and uplift that they have had choose under that final test to yield to selfishness and then of their own free will follow Satan and his demons will be destroyed by God’s casting them into the Gehenna of irreversible destruction, “the second death.” About this read in Revelation, chapter twenty.

The above is the Bible portrayal of man’s situation and prospects. It all agrees with what was presented in The Watchtower, that men have free will now. They are morally responsible, therefore, to use it according to their opportunities by God’s undeserved kindness. Happy now are those who, being conscious of their spiritual need, exercise their free will to come into the Christian freedom in the present-day New World society.

Cordially,

WATCHTOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY

“And Walk Humbly with Thy God”

MANY people turn a deaf ear to the good news of God’s kingdom because of prejudice, others, because of selfishness, being unable to see wherein they will be immediately benefited by it. Again, others because of lack of faith are completely indifferent, and many reject it because of pride. It seems that this latter reason accounts for the comparatively little progress that has been made in the praise to Jehovah in the land of India. Emphasizing this point is the following report from that vast land.

While most people know that India is the land of Hinduism, few in the West have much idea of what Hinduism really is, or what the mentality of the average Hindu is like and especially what his reaction is to the Bible. The average Hindu is an exceedingly proud man; proud of his religious philosophies. The Bible says: “God opposes the haughty ones, but he gives undeserved kindness to the humble ones”; and that is as true in India as in any other land.

It might seem strange to some that a people so stricken with poverty and so backward in their domestic and social services should be proud; but it is so. The average Hindu is so proud of his religion that he believes he knows all there is to be known about the mysteries of life. He is completely disdainful of the thought that the Almighty God would reveal his purposes to man through a book, and one that he thinks began to be written only 1900 years ago by Jesus Christ. Oh no, God has used only the holy men of Hinduism to teach the world about the origin of life and the ultimate destiny of man. To him the Bible is merely a third-rate effort of some Christian upstarts to foist Western civilization upon an ancient and cultured people. They ridicule the idea that salvation can be gained only through Jesus Christ, and it is a very common experience in India to have the Hindus listen with joy to the good news about the new world and then turn away in disgust as Bible texts are produced showing that this new world will come by means of Christ Jesus.

However, there are some exceptions to this rule, some who are not too proud to accept the truth that all things are of God but by Christ Jesus. For example, there is the recent case of a young man of the Sikh religion who began reading the Bible study aid “Let God Be True” and studying the Bible with the Watch Tower missionaries. In the Sikh religion all the men let their hair grow long and they never shave. They coil their long hair, of which they are very proud, into a ball on top of their heads and cover it with a turban. So, imagine the surprise of the Watch Tower missionaries when one day this Sikh gentleman walked into their Kingdom Hall in Bombay with his hair cut and brushed in the Western style and his chin shaved clean.

Clearly he was humble enough to be taught and he was not afraid to follow the path of truth when once he saw it. He dedicated himself to Jehovah God and now regularly associates with Jehovah’s witnesses in all features of the preaching work. “What doth Jehovah require of thee, but to do justly, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with thy God?”—Mic. 6:8, AS.

A Change of Heart Needed

HOW long will the struggle between tyranny and freedom go on? Answering that question the secretary general of the United Nations, Dag Hammarskjold, said: “As long as human beings are human beings.” And why did Mr. Hammarskjold take such a pessimistic view of the struggle? Because, according to him, “this is basically not a struggle between political systems and ideologies, but a struggle within and for the hearts of men, including our own.” “Even in a restricted political sense of the word democracy,” further observed Mr. Hammarskjold, “we are still far from the goal.”—New York Times, February 14, 1954.

Here, then, is the explanation why there is war today in Indo-China, a stalemate in Korea, a South African race question, strained relations between India and Pakistan and between the Arab nations and Israel, and why the cold war between the East and the West, with its atomic- and hydrogen-bomb race, is worsening. The United Nations organization may be an imposing structure, but what can be expected from it when the materials going into it have no tensile strength, no soundness of heart, and when there is no cohesiveness between them, no altruism, no love of neighbor?

The Bible, God’s Word, rightly stresses the importance of the heart. “Guard your heart with all vigilance, for thence are the well-springs of life,” it tells us. And by means of it God says to us, “My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.” Since “God is love,” for us to give him our hearts and observe his ways is to wean them away from a selfish course to one of unselfishness.—Prov. 4:23, AT; Pr 23:26, RS; 1 John 4:8.

This can be done and is being done, and the fruits from this course of action bear out that Mr. Hammarskjold is correct in stressing the heart as the key to the problem. Objective observers attending the national assembly of Jehovah’s witnesses in Northern Rhodesia in 1953 marveled at what they saw: thousands upon thousands of representatives from many different warlike African tribes meeting together in peace, unity and love. What is the explanation? It is an understanding and appreciation of the truth of God’s Word that gives them the desire and the ability to make their minds over, to put off their old pagan warlike personality with its voodooism, polygamy and like tribal customs, and to put on the clean, peaceful and unselfish Christian personality. And the truth regarding Jehovah God and his purposes is accomplishing this remarkable change of heart not only in Northern Rhodesia but in 142 other lands as well.

True, these cannot make an end to the struggle between freedom and tyranny in the world, but by making over their personalities, by changing their hearts, they are demonstrating themselves as being worthy of living in the new world that Jehovah will create by making an end of all tyrants, which he will do at Armageddon. Living together in peace, love and unity now, and having the hope of God’s new world of righteousness in which the righteous will inhabit the land forever, these are now the happiest people on the face of the earth.—Ps. 72:4; Isa. 14:4-7; Ps. 37:29.

And quit being fashioned after this system of things, but be transformed by making your mind over, that you may prove to yourselves the good and acceptable and complete will of God.—Rom. 12:2, NW.

Maintaining Sanctification

“For this is what God wills, the sanctifying of you, . . . that each one of you should know how to get possession of his own vessel in sanctification and honor.”—1 Thess. 4:3, 4. NW.

1. How precious is God’s Word?

JEHOVAH’S Word comes down to us in the book we call the Bible, composed of many smaller books, all inspired by the great Author who used faithful human writers thus to disclose his mind upon the matters with which the Bible deals. That Word of God is tried and tested and it is pure. (Prov. 30:5) Throughout the centuries it has been preserved to stand bright and clean now in the midst of a corrupt and decayed system of things. Its great Source being complete, righteous and holy, this Word is sufficient and is not subject to addition or reduction. (Deut. 4:2; Rev. 22:18, 19, NW) No question about it, persons who love righteousness and all that it implies must turn to this holy Word of God because therein alone lies guidance in uprightness. So pure, holy and precious is it, and so beautiful its component parts, that the seasonable word is compared to golden apples in silver settings. “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.” “Like apples of gold in a setting of carved silver is a word that is aptly spoken.” “Golden fruit in figured silver baskets is a word spoken on fitting occasion.”—Prov. 25:11, AV; AT; Ro.

2. In the contents of God’s Word, what truth is found, and what attitudes thereto exist on the part of men?

² Though a treasured ornament or vessel may be of pure gold or silver, if seized by unclean or careless hands it can be grossly misused, turned upside down and emptied of its precious contents. Such has been done by ungodly men in their mishandling of the Word of God’s truth. Within the beautiful and vital contents of the Bible is the truth concerning sanctification, and, yet, what understanding and appreciation of sanctification do the people of even the so-called “Christian” world have today? Sanctimoniousness they know in all of its odious meaning. Sanctimoniousness, hypocrisy, spreads a cheap veneer over the entire old-world structure in a vain attempt to hide the corruption underneath every part of the old system of things. Because of their unrelenting effort to justify their ungodly course of action by the misapplication of scriptures, leaders of public thought, and especially the religious teachers of all Christendom, have robbed the people of appreciation of genuine sanctification as it is presented in God’s Word. Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and other ministers of religion in general cater to the masses in their self-indulgence, and they themselves go along with God-dishonoring practices, resulting in the warping of the sense of values of mankind to such an extent that the person who sincerely regrets those things that are an abomination to God is truly an exception. (Ezek. 9:4) And yet there are many such exceptions, honesthearted persons who do love righteousness. These may know with assurance that in spite of hypocritical sanctimoniousness practiced in the name of God, true sanctification, now as always, is the wise course for Christians to pursue. Let them look to the holiness of the great Author, the holiness of his Word of truth and the sacred ness of its incorruptible doctrines.

3. State the apostle Paul’s relationship to the congregation at Thessalonica, and his encouragement to them and to us regarding sanctification.

³ It was probably about A.D. 49 or 50 when the apostle Paul, while on his second preaching tour, founded the Christian congregation at Thessalonica. Those Christians from the beginning underwent severe religious persecution because of their faith. Their endurance was a joy to their older brother, Paul, and in writing to them he commended them because of their faith and encouraged them with great emphasis to maintain their sanctification, continuing in the course of righteousness in which they had set their feet. It was good that Paul wrote them as he did in First Thessalonians, and if Christians today will but allow them to, the same words of Paul can aid those who love Jehovah God now to maintain their sanctification.

4. What is the origin of sanctification of Christians?

⁴ Sanctification of the Christian congregation did not originate with the apostle Paul. Its Author and Provider is Jehovah God himself. Through his Son, Christ Jesus, this relationship to God was opened up and made available, and Jesus himself made references to sanctification. Paul shows that sanctification was Jehovah’s will for the members of the body of Christ, the anointed Christian congregation, of which the Christians in Thessalonica were a part.

5. As respects God’s will for Christians, give Scriptural evidence.

⁵ In the text first above cited, Paul points out “this is what God wills, the sanctifying of you.” (1 Thess. 4:3, NW) Showing further that sanctification is Jehovah’s will for Christians, Paul expressed himself similarly at the tenth chapter of Hebrews, in discussing the office of Christ Jesus and his priestly work on behalf of his body, his spiritual congregation. To Christ Jesus Paul applies the prophecy of Psalm 40:8, which says: “I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea thy law is within my heart.” (AS) Paul puts it this way: “Hence when he comes into the world he says: . . . ‘“Look! I am come (in the roll of the book it is written about me) to do your will, O God.’” By the said ‘will’ we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time.” (Heb. 10:5, 7, 10, NW) So as surely as it was Jehovah God’s will that Jesus performed, it is His will that Christians be sanctified, whatever sanctification is.

6. Give the implication in the title of this article, and enumerate three things which will prove to be helpful to us.

⁶ When we speak of maintaining sanctification we imply that it is something that is not retained automatically but must be continually pursued. And such is the case. What encouragement in this regard it must have been to the Thessalonian Christians to receive Paul’s letter! Determination to continue in the way in which they had started, faithful to their God, must have increased in them when they read: “Finally, brothers, we request you and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, just as you received the instruction from us on how you ought to walk and please God, just as you are in fact walking, that you would keep on doing it more fully. . . . For this is what God wills, the sanctifying of you, that you abstain from fornication; that each one of you should know how to get possession of his own vessel in sanctification and honor.” (1 Thess. 4:1-4, NW) In order for us to maintain sanctification, we, of course, need to know what it is, how it is received and how it can be maintained.

WHAT IS SANCTIFICATION?

7. Proceed toward defining “sanctification,” showing its justification and the contrast that it emphasizes.

⁷ Sanctification means to be in accord with Jehovah God, who never steps down from his holiness and righteousness, never changing. The righteousness of Jehovah is complete justification for his creatures to devote themselves to him. In fact, sanctification is preceded by the personal dedication to do God’s will, and this step by the individual, as well as his subsequent course of action consistent therewith, is because of his worship of Jehovah God. This certainly does emphasize the extreme contrast between Jehovah’s morality in every respect and the present-day civilization’s immorality in every respect. This holiness of God prompts his acts and impels the righteous acts of his creatures in obedience to him and in worship of him; and therefore appropriate are his words to Israel already in a law covenant with him: “I am Jehovah your God: sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves . . . For I am Jehovah that brought you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.”—Lev. 11:44, 45, AS.

8. What application does Leviticus 11:44, 45 have to those of the Christian congregation?

⁸ This sanctification because of Jehovah’s holiness did not end with the nation of Israel. Rather, it extended in principle to the Christian congregation of anointed followers of Christ Jesus with more impelling force so that the apostle Peter both practiced and preached it. In doing so Peter pointed out to other Christians the necessity of their maintaining their sanctification, saying: “Brace up your minds for activity, keep completely balanced and set your hope upon the undeserved kindness that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, quit being fashioned according to the desires you formerly had in your ignorance, but, in accord with the holy one who called you, do you also become holy yourselves in all your conduct, because it is written: ‘You must be holy, because I am holy.’”—1 Pet. 1:13-16, NW.

9. State the warning example of Israel.

⁹ Israel as a nation failed to maintain its sanctification, and therefore lost God’s approval and blessing. Christians are to take warning therefrom.—1 Cor. 10:6-11.

10. Continue with the forceful definition of “sanctification.”

¹⁰ The word “sanctify” means to make sacred or holy, to set apart to a sacred office. That is a generally recognized definition of this English word, which comes from the Latin and has also the significance of making free from sin, cleansing from moral corruption. It certainly is a forceful expression and embodies much in its significance.

IS IT REAL? POSSIBLE?

11. Is sanctification a reality, and why do you so answer?

¹¹ What shall we say? Is sanctification for Christian men and women now upon the earth real, or is it just a phrase that religious organizations incorporate in their doctrines and teachings that has no reality and no practical application? Sanctification is real, even as Jehovah God himself is a reality and is holy. If we believe the plain statement of God’s Word before quoted, we know that Jehovah’s holiness is a real thing, with nothing make-believe about it. The Son of God, Christ Jesus, was not misrepresenting things when in prayer to his heavenly Father shortly before his death he said: “I have made your name manifest to the men you gave me out of the world. . . . I make request concerning them; I make request, not concerning the world, but concerning those you have given me, . . . Holy Father, watch over them out of respect for your own name which you have given me, in order that they may be one just as we are. . . . I have given your word to them, but the world has hated them, because they are no part of the world just as I am no part of the world. . . . Sanctify them by means of the truth; your word is truth. . . . And I am sanctifying myself in their behalf, that they also may be sanctified by means of truth.”—John 17:6-19, NW.

12. Jesus’ situation when speaking the text of John 17:6-19 highlights what contrast?

¹² How shabby the false religious veneer of sanctimoniousness alongside the sound words of the Master spoken from the fullness of the heart of one facing death upon a torture stake! As surely as Jesus lived and died because of his worship of Jehovah God, just that certain is the reality of his own sanctification of which he here spoke, and also of the sanctification of his associates, or body members, to which he here also made reference.

13. Paul and Peter set out sanctification as being what?

¹³ It was real for the Thessalonians, according to Paul, because to them he said, “Just as you are in fact walking, that you would keep on doing it more fully.” (1 Thess. 4:1, NW) And Peter, in giving us his foregoing exhortation to holiness, was not misleading us on the reality of sanctification. So the point here is that sanctification is genuine, not an empty phrase to be merely spoken, but is a practical Christian way of life, God’s will for his people and a reality.

14. Relate the facts relative to imperfect men and the question they allow.

¹⁴ But someone in all sincerity may opine: We are weak and imperfect creatures and we are sinful by inheritance, so even though sanctification is God’s will for Christians and even granting it to be a real thing in his sight, how is it possible for us to be sanctified, holy, devoted to righteousness or set apart to a sacred service? To this, from the Scriptures we say that sanctification is possible of attainment.

15, 16. Reason upon the matter of the possibility of sanctification from the standpoint of Jehovah, Christ Jesus and the Roman congregation.

¹⁵ There is no one knowing the human frailties which are ours better than Jehovah God himself. Christ Jesus was and is well aware of our condition, appreciating its reason and its remedy even more than we do, and yet we have his foregoing words of assurance. Also, the apostle Paul wrote to another congregation about sanctification, and this congregation was of both Jews and non-Jews, located in what probably was the most corrupt city on earth in its day: the city of pagan Rome, the capital of the pagan Roman empire. Rome has been described as the sink or cesspool into which all the corruptness of the vast Roman Empire drained. Of course, the evil old system of things has not improved since those days of Rome. It has become worse and it is more corrupt today with its veneer of false Christianity; but even as God’s provisions for his worshipers were effective in the days of the early Roman congregation, so they are completely effective now. Therefore, notice what consideration the apostle Paul had for the disabilities upon his brothers in Rome and know that this same consideration as Paul here expressed is had by Jehovah through Christ Jesus for the benefit of his people now:

¹⁶ “Do not let sin continue to rule as king in your mortal bodies that you should obey their desires. Neither go on presenting your members to sin as weapons of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, also your members to God as weapons of righteousness. For sin must not be master over you, seeing that you are not under law but under undeserved kindness. What follows? Shall we commit a sin because we are not under law but under undeserved kindness? Never may that happen! Do you not know that if you keep presenting yourselves to anyone as slaves to obey him, you are slaves of him because you obey him, either of sin with death in view or of obedience with righteousness in view? But thanks to God that you were the slaves of sin but you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were handed over. Yes, since you were set free from sin, you became slaves to righteousness. I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh: for even as you presented your members as slaves to uncleanness and lawlessness with lawlessness in view, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness with holiness in view.”—Rom. 6:12-20, NW.

17. What change in individuals’ lives is implicit in “sanctification,” and does sanctification automatically continue with Christians?

¹⁷ For the Roman then as well as for the Thessalonian Christians and for anointed Christians today in the year 1954, sanctification means that they have changed their lives and that each individual of them has turned from a course of lawlessness to lawfulness before the great Lawgiver, Jehovah God. This sanctification necessarily is something that must be pursued and maintained. It does not continue with a person automatically, because it involves a change in a person’s life, which change he makes after he dedicates himself to serve the Most High and in which he must continue and mature. This change in a person’s life means carrying out his dedication to the righteous God, and hence to his righteous cause. In the earth, what cause is righteous? a national cause? a political cause? What cause is free from any taint of corruption? What issue is worthy of the devotion of intelligent creatures? The proper determination of the issue of godship, of supremacy, of pure worship, the one righteous cause and holy enterprise, is the cause of Jehovah God. This issue of Jehovah’s supremacy moves those who worship him to uphold his Godship by calling attention to the facts relative to his relationship to his creatures and relative to his revealed Word, the Bible.

18. Does Jehovah find a champion for his cause among the religions of this old world?

¹⁸ Does Jehovah find a champion for his cause among the religions of this old world? Name one! There is none. An illustration of this is in the writings of an outstanding spokesman for Protestantism. In his recent book Preaching in a Revolutionary Age, making reference to a previous writer telling of a father and son at church, this bishop recounts: “The aged rector read from the Old Testament, and the boy learned of the terrible God who sent plagues upon the people and created fiery serpents to assault them. That night, when the father passed the boy’s bedroom, the boy called him, put his arms around his father’s neck, and, drawing him close, said: ‘Father, you hate Jehovah: so do I. I loathe him, dirty bully.’” Observe now the comments made by the author relative to this anecdote, and determine if he upheld the God of the Bible and the Scriptural accounts of his acts of vindication of olden times: “We have long since rejected a conception of reconciliation associated historically with an idea of a Deity that is loathsome. God, for us, cannot be thought of as an angry, awful, avenging Being who because of Adam’s sin must have his Shylockian pound of flesh. No wonder the honest boy in justifiable repugnance could say, ‘Dirty bully.’”

19. Who only uphold Jehovah’s cause?

¹⁹ It is a shameful thing for one taking the name of Christ, who consistently upheld Jehovah, to justify the conclusion of a poor, mistaught child that Jehovah God is a “dirty bully.” However, this situation is not new. Even from the time of Jesus till now, who upon the earth have stood up for the God of the Hebrew Scriptures, proclaiming His supremacy, giving to Him love and devotion, and calling upon their fellow man to do the same? Who take this course of action in behalf of the cause of Jehovah God in this day? Those persons, and only such, who deliberately, with understanding and love, change their lives so that their very members are presented as “slaves to righteousness with holiness in view.” That is serving the holy cause of the holy God. Sanctification includes this presenting of one’s dedicated members to Jehovah for the attaining of holiness. This holiness is a real thing and it is possible of attainment and of being maintained.

HOW RECEIVED?

20. From whom is sanctification?

²⁰ Consistent with other texts, the Scriptures considered above show that sanctification is from Jehovah God. He it is who through his Word of truth draws men to himself through Christ by attracting them with his own righteousness. He it is who through Christ’s ransom provision has made it possible for imperfect men to have a standing of reconciled relationship with God, being declared righteous by the merit of Jesus’ sacrifice and their faith therein. “But it is due to him [God] that you are in union with Christ Jesus, who has become to us wisdom from God, also righteousness and sanctification and release by ransom.” (1 Cor. 1:30, NW) Jehovah God is the one to whom believers dedicate themselves; so, truly, sanctification is from Jehovah. Jesus indicated this, saying: “Do you say to me whom the Father sanctified and dispatched into the world, ‘You blaspheme,’ because I said, I am God’s Son?”—John 10:36, NW.

21. What part does the truth play in sanctification?

²¹ Also, in considering the means of obtaining sanctification, we at once think of Jesus’ words which show the truth to be the instrumentality, when he said to his heavenly Father: “Sanctify them by means of the truth; your word is truth.” (John 17:17, NW) So God’s revealed Word is essential for the righteous course of sanctification. Jehovah, having sanctified the dedicated members of the Christian congregation of the body of Christ by giving them the call to the heavenly kingdom, anointing them with his spirit, does set them apart to his holy, sacred service, consecrating them, and he guides them through his Word of truth. Ah, yes, but how does the truth come to men and women in the first place in their individual lives? It is certain that Jehovah God does not come down and sit with them and instruct them in his Word. Neither does Christ Jesus, because he is the heavenly King. The apostle Paul, writing to the same congregation of the Thessalonians, shows how the truth which sanctifies comes to men, because he recalls how it came to those in Thessalonica, saying: “God selected you from the beginning for salvation by sanctifying you with spirit and by your faith in the truth. To this very destiny he called you through the good news we declare, . . . So, then, brothers, stand firm.”—2 Thess. 2:13-15, NW.

22. Show the part played by Christian ministry in sanctification.

²² Are we to understand that it was the declaration of the good news which Paul made to the Thessalonians that brought them God’s Word of truth, which they believed and in which they put faith, and that resulted in their being selected by God for salvation by sanctification? Yes, exactly! So it was throughout the Christian era, and so it is today, that men and women enter this blessed relationship with their God of sanctification or devotion to him because of the fact that other Christian ministers who preceded them have come to them with the message of God’s Word and have preached this Bible truth to them and they have heard and responded. “For me to be a public servant of Christ Jesus to the nations, engaging in the holy works of the good news of God, in order that the offering, namely, these nations, might prove to be acceptable, it being sanctified with holy spirit.”—Rom. 15:16, NW.

23. Describe a present-day relationship of “older” and “younger” spiritual brothers.

²³ Spiritually speaking, Paul was their older brother and they were his younger brothers in Thessalonica, because from him they had received this message of God’s Word. That Christian pattern has not changed. It is the same today. Since the Kingdom was born in 1914, and the Lord came to the temple for judgment in 1918, and since the active proclamation of the message of God’s present kingdom throughout the earth since 1920, the numbers of those who are worshiping Jehovah have expanded until today there are hundreds of thousands of persons in 143 countries and lands who have responded to the preaching of ministers who are spiritually “older” than they are, just as the Thessalonians responded to the preaching of the apostle Paul. Active in the service of God now are ministers who have upheld Jehovah’s cause for many years. Some of them are still going strong who were ministers of the good news even before the Kingdom was born in 1914. Many of them have been with the present Christian Bible-education work throughout its present increasing prosperity, which dates from 1919. These faithful servants of God have done much preaching, and as the years passed they have been joined by others, and thus the work has increased. Upon the earth now there are approximately 20,000 persons who give evidence of being of the remaining ones or the remnant of God’s sanctified body of Christ, as shown by the number partaking of the Memorial emblems in 1954.

24. In what do we discern our “older brother”?

²⁴ Those of us who more recently have had our eyes opened by the Bible truth to see the wonder of Jehovah recognize in these older brothers ministers who bear to us a relationship similar to that borne by the apostle Paul toward the congregation in Thessalonica. Furthermore, and of greater importance, we recognize in the organization of the anointed remnant a loving older brother, and, if we are now devoted to God, we know that the reason we have been selected for salvation, having faith in the truth, is that this “older brother” preached the good news to us. Paramountly, however, we all recognize the past and present ministry of our truly oldest Brother, Christ Jesus. This we gladly acknowledge, giving all thanks and praise to Jehovah God through Jesus Christ.

Making a Wise Choice

● One of the reporters for the Chicago Tribune recently interviewed a group of graduates from Chicago’s Southwest Side High Schools who were chosen as outstanding representatives of their graduating classes. The graduates were asked about their vocational plans. Regarding the wise choice made by one graduate the Tribune (January 17, 1954) reported: “A trip to Europe and later a life as a missionary for Jehovah’s Witnesses are in the future for Gage Park High School’s star student, Miss Eleanore Spitzke, 17. . . . She’ll take a job after graduation to earn money for her European tour, set for summer, 1955, when her denomination will hold a series of conferences on the continent. . . . Miss Spitzke’s choice of missionary work replaced earlier wishes to become a doctor or a mathematics teacher because of a belief that as a missionary she could be of greater help to more people.”

All, “Stand Firm”

“Consequently, my brothers beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, stand firm in this way in the Lord, beloved ones.”—Phil. 4:1, NW.

1. Quote or read again 2 Thessalonians 2:13-15 and show how it might properly be viewed by us.

WHEN we younger ones of the Lord’s other sheep read such a passage as 2 Thessalonians 2:13-15, it is as though our great “oldest brother,” Christ Jesus, through Jehovah’s “faithful and discreet slave” class, were speaking to us and saying to us that, because of the good news it has preached to us, we have the opportunity for salvation, and we are thankful for the admonition Jehovah gives to us through this channel to “stand firm.”

2. Wherein is found a proof that sanctification can be maintained?

² The presence upon the earth for forty years since the birth of the heavenly kingdom of solid, sound, faithful members of the “little flock” of sanctified ones and also of members of the Lord’s other sheep who have been long in the ministry is proof, not only that sanctification is Jehovah’s will for Christians, but also that it is something that can be maintained year after year. It is proved to be both real and possible. Those of Jehovah’s servants who recognize themselves to be of the body members of Christ or the sanctified congregation in humility before God thank him for the privileges they have had and are having now, and they know that they, too, must continue to stand firm and maintain their sanctification, clinging to it like a bulldog. They seek no retirement from service, no deflection inconsistent with their anointing. Their steps toward their heavenly prize have taken them too far along the way for them even to think of turning aside at this late date. To them the Kingdom prosperity that is present and ahead is no real indication that any should slack the hand and ease up, or settle down and seek personal pleasure, but, rather, continue to push on, even as Paul himself said: “Brothers, I do not yet consider myself as having laid hold on it; but there is one thing about it: Forgetting the things behind and stretching forward to the things ahead, I am pursuing down toward the goal for the prize of the calling above and which God extends in Christ Jesus. As for us, our citizenship exists in the heavens, from which place also we are eagerly waiting for a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will refashion our humiliated body to be conformed to his glorious body according to the operation of the power which he has, even to subject all things to himself. Consequently, my brothers beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, stand firm in this way in the Lord, beloved ones.” (Phil. 3:13, 14, 20, 21; 4:1, NW) The aged congregation, including the “remaining ones” or “discreet slave” and its members, have longed for the increase they now see, and, now seeing it, they have great joy.

3. Explain the relationship between the apostle Paul and the Philippian congregation, and show parallel facts today.

³ As was his privilege with the Thessalonians, so it seems that Paul was the first one to preach the good news to the Philippians before he wrote the foregoing. The tie of love between Paul and the congregation in Philipʹpi was strong. Paul visited them twice after their establishment and strengthened them in the faith. He wrote to them his epistle appearing in the Christian Greek Scriptures as Paul’s letter “to the Philippians,” and the Philippians rendered both spiritual help and material assistance to Paul. Surely they filled his longing. They were his joy. Speaking from the standpoint both of the old organization and the older ministers in God’s work in this day, we say, You who have more recently come to the truth and service of Jehovah, you who are of the Lord’s other sheep, adding to both the numbers and activity of this New World society, “you are our joy.” We have longed for you. You are living evidence and proof that devotion to Jehovah’s righteous cause is not confined to a small handful, but it embraces many, even you, and to you we say, “stand firm in this way in the Lord, beloved ones.”

4. Discuss the glory and adornment of the New World society.

⁴ The claimed glory of the old system of things is shabby and shoddy, because it is the reflection of the evil of its false god, Satan the Devil. The wonderful glory of Jehovah’s kingdom is beyond description in our inadequate words, because it is a reflection of the glory of the true God, Jehovah. As far as we upon the earth are concerned, as the representative members of the nucleus of the New World society, our common purpose is the worship of this glorious God. Jehovah’s glory and beauty on the earthly organization of God’s servants are found in its faithful members who themselves conform to the principles of righteousness; and thus, in some measure, although limited indeed, the glory of God is reflected. When you learn of the provisions of Jehovah as outlined in his Word, take your stand on his side, dedicate yourselves to him and uphold his cause, you are the adornment of this Christian group. Jehovah knows those who are his, and if you are his he knows you and loves you. Your fellow servants upon the earth hold you in high esteem, and you who are younger brothers in the worship and service of God are in fact as the joy of God’s earthly organization now. You have a great responsibility to keep clean and upright, not going along in the way of the nations which do not know God, because “the man that shows disregard is disregarding, not man, but God, who puts his holy spirit in you.”—1 Thess. 4:8, NW.

5. To you of the Lord’s other sheep what does 1 Thessalonians 2:19, 20 say, and what debt do you owe?

⁵ As you continue faithful to Jehovah it is as though your older brothers and your older “discreet slave” say to you: “For what is our hope or joy or crown of exultation—why, is it not in fact you?—before our Lord Jesus at his presence? You certainly are our glory and joy.” (1 Thess. 2:19, 20, NW) It follows that you have a great debt, a spiritual debt to God, and to his faithful society which has brought to you the truth to which you have responded and which has led you to set your feet in the path of holiness and salvation. Pay your debt in loyalty and loving devotion.

6. Mention briefly some additional preliminaries of sanctification.

⁶ We can say that sanctification is received not only from God and through the truth and its being preached to us, but also through dedication to Jehovah. Hence sanctification of the members of the body of Christ comes through union with him, through the spirit of God upon them, through their faith in Jehovah and his Word, and faith in Christ Jesus, his provision for life. As it is written: “According to the foreknowledge of God the Father, with sanctification by the spirit, for the purpose of their being obedient and sprinkled with the blood of Jesus Christ.”—1 Pet. 1:2, NW.

7. In paragraph seven, several points are made regarding ecclesiastical sanctimoniousness. Please relate them in your own words.

⁷ Well, in all these points relative to sanctification and how it is received, where do the showy ecclesiastical ceremonies come in? Nowhere. They have nothing to do with the sanctification taught in the Bible. They are inventions of men dating from outright paganism, embellished through the imagination of modern pagan worshipers to impress and mislead the people. One of the outstanding proofs, in addition to the Bible, that the claimed sanctification through the childish ceremonies of orthodox Christendom is false and but contributes to hypocritical sanctimoniousness is found in the fact that Christendom is morally bad, rotten and corrupt in its every department, reproaches Jehovah God, fights against him, not for him and his cause, persecutes to the limit those who are trying to teach the people the clean principles of God’s holy Word, and is doomed to destruction at the hands of Jehovah’s chief vindicator, Christ Jesus, at the near battle of Armageddon. Its pagan and false doctrines of so-called “sanctification,” and other doctrines and practices as well, have not a single Scriptural support. They perpetrate a great wrong upon mankind in general because they hide from the eyes of the people the truth of God’s Word, the Bible, concerning true holiness. The leaders and the people share in their common guilt in reproaching God’s name.

8. What must those devoted to righteousness do?

⁸ In our consideration of sanctification we need not be confused or discouraged by what orthodox religion has done to this golden expression found in God’s Word, which is filled with meaning and which is a Christian essential. You who are devoted to righteousness cannot afford for a minute to go along with the old world, this old system of things, and its standards, its doctrines, or its practices. Stand clean. Maintain your sanctification and your hope of sanctification to life.

HOW MAINTAINED?

9. What point does Paul make regarding self-control?

⁹ One of the points Paul makes in writing to the Thessalonians on self-control is: “That each one of you should know how to get possession of his vessel in sanctification and honor, not in covetous sexual appetite such as also those nations have which do not know God; that no one go to the point of harming and encroach upon the rights of his brother in this matter, because Jehovah is one who exacts punishment for all these things, just as we told you beforehand and also gave you a thorough witness.” (1 Thess. 4:4-6, NW) (A similar use of the word “vessel” is where Saul is called a “chosen vessel” at Acts 9:15.)

10. How is “vessel” here used, and in what way is self-control an essential?

¹⁰ Here the body of each individual Christian is referred to as a “vessel.” It is speaking of the body or the self of the servant of God as an instrument to be used by the Christian in the proper manner. This requires self-control. It results in dependability, and this dependability comes from our proper evaluation of our relationship to Jehovah God, of our glorious treasure of service and of the theocratic New World society and our part in it. One maintaining sanctification is a dependable man or a dependable woman. That this is not automatically kept but must be constantly pursued is suggested by Paul’s entreaty: “Only behave in a manner worthy of the good news about the Christ, in order that, whether I come and see you or be absent, I may hear about the things which concern you, that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one soul fighting side by side for the faith of the good news, and in no respect being frightened by your opponents. This very thing is a proof of destruction for them, but of salvation for you; and this indication is from God, because to you the privilege was given in behalf of Christ, not only to put your faith in him, but also to suffer in his behalf.”—Phil. 1:27-29, NW.

11, 12. What is necessary in order for sanctification to be maintained?

¹¹ We have mentioned briefly the agencies through which sanctification is attained. In order for sanctification to be maintained it is necessary to keep bright these agencies of its attainment. Sanctification is from Jehovah God. To maintain it, keep the heart fixed on Jehovah. Sanctification is through the truth of Jehovah’s Word, the Bible. To continue in this condition of holy devotion it is necessary that the Word of truth be constantly studied and adhered to. The waters of truth are represented as a great stream, flowing from the temple of Jehovah. (Rev. 22:1, 2) From this abundant stream Christians must continually fill their hearts and minds, and, as they so keep drinking these waters of life, within them fountains of water bubble up to impart everlasting life.—John 4:14.

¹² To us the opportunity for sanctification was brought because we were ministered to by some other person who was preaching the good news of God’s Word. Our sanctification, from this standpoint, depended upon that ministry. In order for us to maintain our sanctification it is essential that we be active in the ministry, engaging in it, preaching, carrying the truth to others. This activity is a proof of our ministry and glorifies our God in harmony with what the sanctified Lord Christ Jesus stated: “My Father is glorified in this, that you keep bearing much fruit and prove yourselves my disciples.” (John 15:8, NW) The devotion to Jehovah, evidenced by our water immersion in symbol of our dedication to him, must be constant, and therein our unity with our fellow servants be manifested. Keep strong the faith that brought us into relationship with Jehovah, so that his spirit leading to sanctification may ever rest upon us. Like the Thessalonians, we today know the orders to Christians from God’s Word. “For you know the orders we gave you through the Lord Jesus.”—1 Thess. 4:2, NW.

ARE THE OTHER SHEEP SANCTIFIED?

13. Paul identifies sanctified ones. Who are they?

¹³ We previously noted that in addressing the Thessalonians Paul was writing to prospective members of the body of Christ, sanctified by Jehovah God because set apart to do the work of those who are his spiritual sons. “Moreover, brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant concerning those who are sleeping in death, that you may not sorrow just as the rest also do who have no hope. For if our faith is that Jesus died and rose again, so, too, those who have fallen asleep in death through Jesus God will bring with him. For this is what we tell you by Jehovah’s word, that we the living who survive to the presence of the Lord shall in no way precede those who have fallen asleep in death, because the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a commanding call, with an archangel’s voice and with God’s trumpet, and those who are dead in union with Christ will rise first. Afterward we the living who are surviving will together with them be caught away in clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and thus we shall always be with the Lord. Consequently, keep comforting one another with these words.” (1 Thess. 4:13-18, NW) Then, too, in connection with the maintaining of sanctification and abstaining from fornication Paul wrote to the Corinthians: “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I, then, take the members of the Christ away and make them members of a harlot? Never may that happen!”—1 Cor. 6:15, NW.

14. To whom does Revelation 7:9 refer?

¹⁴ With application at the time they were written as well as in our day, the foregoing texts we have considered from the Christian Greek Scriptures have immediate reference to the sanctified, consecrated, spiritual sons of God. What may be said then concerning the other sheep of the Lord Jesus? What about the great crowd of God’s servants, referred to, for instance, in Revelation 7:9 (NW), as: “Look! a great crowd, which no man was able to number, out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes, and there were palm branches in their hands”? Their service of praise to God is shown in Re 7 verse 10: “And they keep on crying with a loud voice, saying: ‘Salvation we owe to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb.’”

15. Is that “great crowd” sanctified?

¹⁵ That very chapter of Revelation makes it clear that these are not the sealed 144,000 of spiritual Israel. Rather, they are manifested after consideration is given to the congregation or body of Christ. The “great crowd” certainly are not sanctified in the sense of being members of the congregation of spiritual Israel; and yet do the requirements of holiness fall upon them in view of all the foregoing evidence which we have considered concerning the clean and pure worship of the true God, who himself is holy and righteous? We say, Yes, for the reason that Jehovah God does not approve unrighteousness, and those of the great crowd of his other sheep are certainly in his approval, if, as and when proving their faithful devotion to him. Their dedications are unquestionably genuine. Their service of praise to him is now swelling into a tremendous chorus to his honor and glory. They beautify the organization of Jehovah’s people on earth in this day. They love Jehovah and he loves them. Their prospects for everlasting life in the new world are thrilling. Even as Jehovah enjoined holiness upon the class of his earthly servants without heavenly hopes as expressed to them in Leviticus, at which time he called attention to his own holiness, and as Peter laid down this same principle as one to govern Christians of his day, so it now applies to all Christians in our day, including those of the Lord’s other sheep.

16. Where is the “great crowd” shown to be serving, and to what conclusion does this lead us?

¹⁶ There is another reason for this conclusion, which is the fact that Revelation 7:15 represents these of the great crowd as “before the throne of God, and they are rendering him sacred service day and night in his temple, and the one seated on the throne will spread his tent over them.” (NW) We cannot conclude that anyone serving Jehovah in his temple or in connection with his temple is corrupt, ungodly, unholy. “In his temple doth every one speak of his glory.”—Ps. 29:9.

17. Distinguish between consecration and sanctification.

¹⁷ Is sanctification synonymous with consecration? No, because consecration refers to the act of Jehovah in selecting and empowering the High Priest Christ Jesus and those of the anointed associate priests with Christ Jesus. (See The Watchtower, May 15, 1952.) Sanctification is in relation to other things. It contrasts one who is properly called “sanctified” with an unsanctified person or an unsanctified condition. Therefore, it is with complete propriety that Jehovah God, through his great appointed Judge, Christ Jesus, determines who are serving him faithfully and so are worthy of his approval because of their devotion to him.

18, 19. In discussing believing and unbelieving marriage mates, how does the apostle Paul apply sanctification?

¹⁸ Note the application of this principle by the apostle Paul in the seventh chapter of First Corinthians where he is discussing the relative sanctification of an unbelieving married person who has a mate that is a Christian. His words are: “If any brother has an unbelieving wife, and yet she is agreeable to dwelling with him, let him not leave her; and a woman who has an unbelieving husband, and yet he is agreeable to dwelling with her, let her not leave her husband. [Why?] For the unbelieving husband is sanctified in relation to his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified in relation to the brother; otherwise, your children would really be unclean, but now they are holy.”—1 Cor. 7:12-14, NW.

¹⁹ In this divided family there is a contrast between the favorable position in which the unbelieving mate is found in relation to the believing one and the unfavorable position if both mates were not believing. The holiness is shown to be to the young children, who otherwise would be unclean, if neither one of the parents was a believer, or if the other parent was not sanctified in relation to the believing one. This does not mean that the unbelieving mate is not personally responsible for his course of unbelief, and it does not mean that the believing mate is going to take the unbelieving one into everlasting life in unbelief. We are interested in the fact that the apostle Paul does say the unbelieving one is sanctified relatively, although he does not become a sanctified one or “saint.” We mention it here to show that it is proper for those of the Lord’s other sheep in reading in God’s Word the requirements for sanctification to Jehovah God to apply to themselves those principles of righteousness that must be followed and live up to them. It is proper, too, for them to know that they must maintain their condition of devotion to God’s righteous cause in order to be a praise to his name and to inherit everlasting life in his righteous new world. (2 Pet. 3:13) As it is written to the sanctified congregation: “God called us, not with allowance for uncleanness, but in connection with sanctification.” (1 Thess. 4:7, NW) Although the other sheep are not members of the “holy nation” composed of those called “saints” or “sanctified ones,” they are now closely associated with that nation as part of the “one flock” under the “one shepherd.” Hence they must not act as a defiling influence among them as the “mixed crowd” once did among the sons of Israel in the wilderness. (Num. 11:4, NW) No; but they are required to measure up to the requirements of holiness as far as these apply to the Lord’s other sheep and so be safe companions of the remnant of the “little flock” of sanctified ones.

20. With what encouragement to stand firm does Paul close his first letter to the Thessalonians?

²⁰ Paul closes his first letter to the Thessalonian congregation of sanctified ones on such a happy and encouraging note, saying: “May the very God of peace sanctify you completely. And with soundness in every part may the spirit and soul and body of you brothers be preserved blameless at the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who is calling you is faithful, and he will also do it. The undeserved kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” (1 Thess. 5:23, 24, 28, NW) In accord with God’s sanctifying completely the remnant of the “little flock” yet on earth he will deal favorably with the “great crowd” of faithful other sheep because of their loyal relationship with the sanctified remnant.—Matt. 25:34-40, 46.

For “anyone that calls upon the name of Jehovah will be saved”. However, how will they call upon him in whom they have not put faith? How, in turn, will they put faith in him of whom they have not heard? How, in turn, will they hear without some to preach?—Rom. 10:13, 14, NW.

Questions From Readers

● In the January 1 issue of The Watchtower the question from Ethiopia, “Should we worship Jesus?” is answered. In paragraph five Hebrews 1:6 is quoted with regard to the angels of God worshiping Jesus, but in the final paragraph it says: “The answer to the above question must be that no distinct worship is to be rendered to Jesus Christ now glorified in heaven. Our worship is to go to Jehovah.” Does this not contradict the statement of Hebrews 1:6?—T. P., United States.

In reply to the several questions on this point in a few letters received, we ask: Are you an angel of God in heaven? If you are, then Hebrews 1:6 applies to you. If you are not one of God’s angels in heaven, then Hebrews 1:6 is not directed to you, for at Hebrews 1:6 and its two preceding verses the writer says concerning the gloried Jesus: “So he has become better than the angels to the extent that he has inherited a name more excellent than theirs. For example, to which one of the angels did he ever say: ‘You are my Son; today I have become your Father’? And again: ‘I shall be a Father to him, and he will be a Son to me’? [6] But when he again brings his Firstborn into the inhabited earth, he says: ‘And let all God’s angels worship him.’” (Heb. 1:4-6, NW) Here the apostle Paul quotes from Psalm 97:7, which, in the words of An American Translation, reads: “All who serve wrought images are put to shame, they who prided themselves on their nonentities. Worship him, all you gods!” In the Greek Septuagint Version (LXX) these italicized words read: “Worship [pros·ky·neʹo] him, all ye his angels.” (Bagster’s edition; also Thomson) The apostle may also have been quoting from the Septuagint Version of Deuteronomy 32:43, the opening part of which reads: “Rejoice, ye heavens, with him, and let all the angels of God worship him; rejoice ye Gentiles, with his people, and let all the sons of God strengthen themselves in him; . . .” (Bagster; similarly Thomson) By examining the context of both Psalm 97:7 and Deuteronomy 32:43 we note that the reference is to Jehovah God as the one to be worshiped. Does this mean that Jesus is the same as Jehovah because of how the writer of Hebrews 1:6 applies the quotation?

In translating Hebrews 1:6 An American Translation does not follow its rendering of Psalm 97:7 and use “worship” but says: “And let all God’s angels bow before him.” The New World Translation says: “And let all God’s angels worship him.” Is the New World Translation inferior here, or has it violated its general rule of endeavoring as far as possible to render each Greek word of the Christian Greek Scriptures by one English equivalent? The answer to these questions is No! What, then, is the reason for its saying “worship” instead of “bow down” or “do obeisance”?

As already stated in the above-mentioned Watchtower article the Greek word here rendered “worship” is the word pros·ky·neʹo. Strange as it may seem, this word is drawn from the Greek word for “dog,” kýōn, and hence means, properly, “to crouch, crawl, fawn,” as a dog would at his master’s feet. Practically applied, therefore, the word basically means “to prostrate oneself, to bow down, to do obeisance.” And in the lands of the Bible this was the proper attitude both of civil veneration and homage and also of religious worship. This appears from the Bible, both in the Hebrew original text and in the Greek.

In the King James or Authorized Version of the Bible pros·ky·neʹo is, without exception, in its 60 occurences, rendered “worship.” However, in the New World Translation pros·ky·neʹo is rendered “do obeisance” and “worship.” For example, the magi from the east and King Herod said they wanted to “do obeisance to” (pros·ky·neʹo) the babe that had been born king of the Jews. “Do obeisance” is preferable here because neither the magi nor King Herod meant to worship the babe as God. (Matt. 2:2, 8, 11) Pros·ky·neʹo is properly rendered “do obeisance” at times, because often in the Greek Septuagint Version of the Bible the action of this verb is directed to men; for example, where the patriarch Abraham bowed down (pros·ky·neʹo) to the pagan natives of Canaanland, the Hittites, the sons of Heth. (Gen. 23:7, 12, LXX) Or, as when the patriarch Jacob and his wives and his children all bowed down repeatedly (pros·ky·neʹo) to his twin-brother Esau, whom Jehovah God said He hated. (Gen. 33:3, 6, 7, LXX) Or, as when Emperor Nebuchadnezzar bowed down (pros·ky·neʹo) to the prophet Daniel. (Dan. 2:46, LXX) Other examples, such as Revelation 3:9, could be given where pros·ky·neʹo is not properly rendered “worship” but should be rendered “bow down” or “do obeisance.”

In the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures when this word pros·ky·neʹo is directed toward God, then it is properly rendered “worship,” as when Jesus answered the Tempter and said: “Go away, Satan! For it is written, ‘It is Jehovah your God you must worship [pros·ky·neʹo], and it is to him alone you must render sacred service.’” (Matt. 4:10, NW) To the Samaritan woman Jesus said: “The genuine worshipers will worship the Father with spirit and truth, for, indeed, the Father is looking for such kind to worship him. God is a Spirit, and those worshiping him must worship [pros·ky·neʹo] with spirit and truth.” (John 4:23, 24, NW) In each of these cases pros·ky·neʹo might have been rendered “bow down” or “do obeisance,” but certainly when we bow down or do obeisance to Jehovah God we do not do it in the same sense as when Abraham, Jacob and others bowed down or did obeisance to men. At John 4:23, 24, above, even Dr. Young’s literal translation of the Bible changes from “bow down” to “worship.” So the New World Translation is no more inconsistent than Dr. Young’s literal Bible translation. Bowing to men does not necessarily mean worship.

In the New World Translation we note that when this Greek verb pros·ky·neʹo is applied to Jesus as a man on earth or materializing as a man after his resurrection, it is translated “do obeisance.” However, when referring to the glorified Jesus in the invisible heavens in the presence of the holy angels, the New World Translation makes a change and renders pros·ky·neʹo as applied to him by the English word “worship.” (Heb. 1:6) This is properly and consistently done. This Greek verb occurs only twice in the book of Hebrews, here at Hebrews 1:6 and at Hebrews 11:21 where Jacob is described as worshiping Jehovah God: “By faith Jacob, when about to die, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped [pros·ky·neʹo] leaning upon the top of his staff.” (NW; referring to Genesis 47:31, where the LXX also uses pros·ky·neʹo) So in the book of Hebrews pros·ky·neʹo is both times rendered “worship” and the angels of God are instructed to “worship” the glorified Jesus. Why is this? Because Jesus has been made so much higher than the angels, even higher than he was before he became a man on earth. (Phil. 2:5-11) It is the command of Jehovah God that they do this toward his Son. What does this mean? This, that even the angels are to render their worship of Jehovah God through Jesus Christ, whom Jehovah God has made the Head of his universal organization. That is why it is stated on page 85 of the book “Make Sure of All Things”, column 1: “Christ to Be Worshiped as a Glorious Spirit, Victorious over Death on the Torture Stake,” with three scriptures accompanying to prove that he is now a glorified spirit, and now no more flesh.

It is because the glorified Jesus Christ acts as the appointed representative of Jehovah God that worship must go to God through him, even on the part of the angels. This explains why Psalm 97:7 and Deuteronomy 32:43, which, according to their context, evidently refer to Jehovah God, are applied by the writer of Hebrews to Jehovah’s Son Jesus Christ. The Son of God is Jehovah’s High Priest, hence subordinate to Jehovah God; but as High Priest according to the likeness of Melchizedek the glorified Jesus Christ leads all creation in the worship of Jehovah God. Hence worship of all creation must go to the one living and true God Jehovah through him. In the present-time fulfillment of Deuteronomy 32:43 and Psalm 97:7, the High Priest Jesus Christ acts as the direct representative for his Father Jehovah and, therefore, Hebrews 1:6 properly involves Jesus Christ glorified in the application of these scriptures. Well, then, since the angels are commanded to worship the glorified Jesus at his second coming, should not we, who, as humans, are so much less than angels, likewise worship him? In answer we say, We must render to him what God’s Word says we must.

At Revelation 19:10 and Re 22:9 the angel whom the glorified Jesus sent to the apostle John said to John: “Worship [pros·ky·neʹo] God,” meaning Jehovah God. Jesus’ angel (Rev. 1:1, 2; 22:16) told John, a man on earth, to worship, not Jesus, but God, Jehovah God the Father of Jesus. That is the One whom Jehovah’s witnesses worship. But we remember that such worship has to be rendered to Jehovah God through his High Priest Jesus Christ. For this reason it is that Jehovah’s witnesses follow the instruction of Philippians 2:10, 11: “So that in the name of Jesus every knee should bend of those in heaven [angels] and those on earth and those under the ground, and every tongue should openly confess that Jesus Christ is Lord [not the Almighty God, but Lord] to the glory of God the Father.” (NW) Jehovah’s witnesses “honor the Son just as they honor the Father,” for, “he that does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.” (John 5:23, NW) Jehovah’s witnesses give to Jesus all the honor, respect, consideration, obedience, imitation, love and loyalty that Jehovah God calls upon them to render to his Son Jesus Christ. In Jesus’ name they render their prayers and worship to Jehovah God. And the angels of heaven obey the command of God and “worship” his Son only as their worship of the Son is related to the worship of his Father Jehovah God. But, keeping things in their relative positions, angels and Jehovah’s witnesses worship Jehovah God as the one Almighty God, uncreated, unbegotten, “from everlasting to everlasting.”—Ps. 90:2.

In the light of the foregoing it will be profitable to reread the article in the above-mentioned Watchtower, pages 30, 31, in answer to the question “Should we worship Jesus?”

False Shepherds versus the True

Strikingly contrasting the attitude of the false shepherds, who feed only themselves, and the true, who feed the sheep, is the following experience of a lost sheep looking for the Right Shepherd, Christ Jesus. This lost sheep, a man of good will residing in a certain town in Norway, obtained a copy of the “New Testament” back in 1949 and began reading it. From it he was convinced that these were the last days, and to gain further knowledge he purchased a complete Bible. From his study of the Bible he gathered that he had something to do; but what, he did not know. He began talking to his friends and neighbors, but they were not interested. He went to the Protestant bishop, but the bishop was resting and so could not be disturbed. He managed to ask, however, “Where can I find a preacher who is willing to talk with me about the Bible?” He was told, “You will find that in the telephone book.” So he checked the phone book and then went to several preachers but they all told him that it was not necessary for him to study the Bible—just go to church regularly, that is the important thing. But this did not satisfy him.

A year and a half passed and he was still looking for an understanding of God’s Word. Then one day he accosted one of Jehovah’s witnesses who was offering Bible magazines on the street to passers-by. Would Jehovah’s witnesses care to discuss the Bible with him? Would they be willing to study the Bible with him? He was invited to come to the public lecture being held the next day and arrangements were made to have a regular Bible study with him. After just a few evenings of study he joined his instructor in the street-witnessing activity, offering Bible magazines to those passing by. He kept making progress and soon dedicated himself to Jehovah, was baptized, and today is a servant in the local congregation, taking the lead in helping others to be able ministers. Happy because of having found the Right Shepherd, he now is aiding others to find Him.

Announcements

BE SURE TO COME TO THE ASSEMBLY KINGDOM HALLS

Jehovah’s witnesses can accommodate themselves to all kinds of circumstances, and if the Kingdom Halls they have and use every week are not sufficiently large they can turn other places into Kingdom Halls for pure worship. This will be very practically illustrated this coming summer during June, July and August, at which time Jehovah’s witnesses will be using five baseball parks, eight auditoriums, four fairgrounds, two arenas and two race tracks—all of them being converted into huge Kingdom Halls for the 1954 district assemblies. Instead of hearing the crack of the bat and seeing home runs, the whirling of wheels, the clapping of flying hoofs, the hum of roller skates, flying fists, grunts and groans of wrestling gladiators, you will hear the singing of songs and voices expressing praise to the great Creator. This will mean quite a transformation, but Jehovah’s witnesses can do it, and be content and rejoice in the assembling of themselves together as Jehovah has directed they should. You can join in with Christians coming from all parts of the United States and Canada blessing Jehovah every day. Have you planned by now to be at one of these twenty-one conventions on the North American continent? Do you know which one you are going to attend? Surely you will go to one of them and take with you your family, your people of good will, and help all in your congregation to get there. Remember the program will be the same at every one of the assemblies from coast to coast. The only exception is Toronto, Canada, where one more day is added so that the 23rd class of Gilead can be graduated there. Why not use your vacation for attending this year’s district assembly?

ASSEMBLY CITY CHANGE

The district assembly for the Colorado vicinity has been changed from Denver to Pueblo.

July 29-August 1, 1954

Pueblo, Colo., Grandstand, Colorado State Fairgrounds, Rooming: 2502 Court St.

SERVE WITHOUT LOITERING OR COMPLAINING

Loitering and complaining are associate evils. Loiterers complain because they do not keep their minds occupied with worth-while things. A complaining frame of mind is not compatible with joyful service. God’s people do not find time to loiter or complain, for they see the new world taking shape, a world of God’s making that will bring into existence the greatest of blessings and joys. They do not loiter a moment in telling other persons about it. (Rom. 12:11, NW) You also may have a part in this joyful activity during June by presenting to people the Bible-study-aid book “New Heavens and a New Earth” and the booklet After Armageddon—God’s New World, on a contribution of 50 cents. If you are not active with a congregation of Jehovah’s witnesses, inquire at the nearest Kingdom Hall for further information, or write to the Society.

STAY IN GOOD HEALTH

How long do you go without partaking of food? Most persons enjoy eating three or more times a day: in the morning, at noon, in the evening, and sometimes in between. Having in mind Jesus’ words that ‘man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God,’ the following question is worthy of serious consideration: “In addition to eating physical food, do I regularly partake of spiritual food in harmony with Jesus’ statement?” To stay in good spiritual health study of God’s Word is necessary. A wholesome and enjoyable aid to Bible study in the morning, at noon, in the evening and in between is this magazine, The Watchtower. It is published the 1st and 15th of every month. The subscription rate is still only $1 a year. You are invited to stay in good health and benefit from each issue by subscribing now.

“WATCHTOWER” STUDIES

Week of June 13: Maintaining Sanctification.

Week of June 20: All, “Stand Firm.”

Check Your Memory

After reading this issue of “The Watchtower,” do you remember—

✔ How four Christian congregations grew from just one person in eight years? P. 292, ¶3.

✔ How a memorable Christian assembly was quietly held in Argentina? P. 295, ¶3.

✔ What may add new conflict to the controversy between science and the Bible? P. 296, ¶4.

✔ Why even the Devil’s slaves have free will? P. 297, ¶4.

✔ How Pharaoh could have survived? P. 298, ¶1.

✔ Whether the God of Israel was different from the God that Jesus revealed? P. 300, ¶1.

✔ How the final test of free will comes? P. 301, ¶2.

✔ What makes the Hindu disdain the Bible? P. 302, ¶3.

✔ Why thousands of formerly warlike Africans met in peace? P. 303, ¶4.

✔ How the people have been unjustly robbed of appreciation of sanctification? P. 304, ¶2.

✔ Whether sanctification is really possible? P. 306, ¶11.

✔ What change is necessary with sanctification? P. 308, ¶17.

✔ Why showy religious ceremonies have nothing to do with sanctification? P. 312, ¶7.

✔ How sanctification is maintained? P. 314, ¶11.

✔ Whether we should worship Jesus, or only the Father, Jehovah? P. 318, ¶4.